


Necessary Ends

by Emma



Series: The Queen's Magicians [8]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-16
Updated: 2010-10-16
Packaged: 2017-10-12 17:36:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/127315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma/pseuds/Emma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old, old friend helps Jack and Ianto in a quest to defeat an angry wraith. This is <em>They Keep Killing Suzie</em>. Warning: Beginning with this chapter, all the "episodes" have a Coda that is definitely explicit!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste their death but once. Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, It seems to me the most strange that men should fear; Seeing that Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come._ Shakespeare, _Julius Caesar_

The house was a modest mid-terrace in a quiet residential neighbourhood, with a neat front yard and window boxes overflowing with pansies. A place where death was always unexpected and violent death unthinkable; but the police cars and the crowd gathered beyond the barriers signaled to everyone that the unthinkable had happened.

 

Jack parked the SUV between two of the police cars. He noticed the crowd's excited pointing and whispering with amusement. These days not even the plain black vehicles – specifically chosen because they looked exactly like a million others on British roads – kept them anonymous. After one particularly annoying encounter with a local reporter, Owen had sardonically suggested that they plaster their name in giant letters on the sides and roofs of the SUVs, on the principle that nobody would believe it was really them. It was a measure of how pissed off Jack was that he had actually considered it.

 

Kathy Swanson met them at the door. The Church's senior investigator waved them in. "Hello Jack, Owen. Gwen, you better put up shields until it's time for you to get to work. It's ugly in there."

 

"Is Andy around?" Gwen asked.

 

"No. He's at Caernarfon on that kidnapping case. I wouldn't be here either, except that I was in the Chief Constable's office when the call came in and he asked me to come along."

 

They followed her into one of the bedrooms. It only took a glimpse for Jack to understand Kathy's warning to Gwen. A couple lay on the bed. Their throats had been slit open. They had fought hard for their lives. The room was thrashed and there was blood everywhere.

 

On the wall above the bed, someone had written TORCHWOOD in bright red.

 

"It's not blood," Kathy said. "Well, not only blood. There's soil mixed with it. Probably graveyard dirt."

 

Owen had put on a pair of thick spectacles and was examining the bodies. "Clear signal, Tosh? All right, then, recording. Two bodies, one male, one female, both between twenty-five and thirty-five years of age. Their throats have been cut. It's meant to simulate a ritual killing, probably satanic in origin, but I don't think so."

 

In his earpiece Jack heard Ianto say _no suspected ritual killings anywhere in Wales in police databases in the last forty years. I'll check the cult and conspiracy sites_. He loved watching his team work. As they had discovered their own strengths they had started to develop an easy, efficient rhythm that had been strengthened by Tosh's encounter with Ocypete, as the others closed ranks to protect her. The first couple of weeks afterwards Tosh had tried to withdraw into a shell but they wouldn't allow it, pulling her into all sorts of activities. The result was a team that worked as smoothly as four very strong personalities – five, if Andy was around – could.

 

"I've done all I can do here." Owen announced. "I don't think I'll need to do an autopsy. I'll get the results from the police surgeon. Gwen?"

 

Jack watched as his newest recruit moved to stand next to his oldest. Gwen took her pendant out and held it in her left hand as she extended her right, palm out. Jack followed her eyes to the corner of the room. He could see two faint outlines; he was sure Gwen could see more. He heard Kathy's sharp intake of breath as the outlines firmed and became visible to everyone in the room.

 

They seemed greatly agitated, but unusually for the recently dead, they didn't seem to be interested in their own bodies. They moved towards Gwen, reaching for her with suppliant hands.

 

"Help us. Please. We do not want to go. Help us."

 

"I will." She sounded utterly reassuring. "But we need to know who did this. Tell us who did this."

 

"The Pilgrims came for us" the woman said, "but we wouldn't go. Max was very angry."

 

"One goes when God decides," the man said angrily. "To do otherwise is a mortal sin."

 

"You were going to commit suicide?"

 

"The Pilgrims… we had promised before." The woman answered. "As did all the others. But we came to understand how sinful it would be. When we told them we would not go, Max… did this. And then, after… they tried to take us, but they couldn't. We wouldn't go!"

 

The figures began to fade, but the couple still reached towards Gwen as if for reassurance.

 

"When you chose not to kill yourselves, they lost any power they might have over you." Gwen said. "Go with your God and to your God. Blessed be."

 

She staggered slightly as they faded away completely, but Owen held her up. She looked at Kathy. "Have there been…"

 

"A number of suicides lately?" Kathy finished the sentence. "Unfortunately, there always are. What we haven't been getting are reports of wraith attacks."

 

 _There is a group listed in the ads of the South Wales Echo calling itself The Pilgrim Way_. Toshiko spoke in their ears. _It gives a phone number and requests the caller to ask for Max. I just dialed. Max Thurston. He's not answering_. She read out an address.

 

Jack passed on the information to Kathy. "Come with us. I have a feeling we're going to need the Church sooner or later on this one."

 

They piled into the SUV and drove to Max Thurston's home, or at least his legal address. It was a warehouse right in the middle of a number of exactly identical warehouses in a rather dodgy area near the docks. There was a lock on the roll-up doors but the small door to the side was open.

 

"Not good." Kathy said. "Around here nobody leaves doors unlocked."

 

The front part of the warehouse was arranged as a sort of meeting room, with a big buffet table against the side wall. Chairs were arranged in a circle in front of it. There was a large mural on the other wall with a confusing mixture of religious symbols arranged in a circle around a mountain topped by a large castle more resembling one of King Ludwig's Bavarian fairytales than a proper self-respecting Welsh working castle.

 

"The usual," Kathy said. "People in pain, confused, are easy targets for the con artists. Or the messianic psychopaths. Or the well-meaning but equally confused."

 

"I lean towards the messianic psychopaths, myself," Owen said. "Considering the two bodies I just examined."

 

 _So far we've found four people who committed suicide in the last two months who seem to have some sort of connection to the Pilgrim Way_. Ianto reported. _There was also another murder, similar MO but no way to connect it to Torchwood_.

 

"Ianto says four suicides and one other murder," he said to Kathy. "All right, people, let's strip this place down to the brick. We need to find Max Thurston."

 

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Owen said quietly.

 

He had wandered towards the back and was standing by an archway leading to an area which had been sectioned off with cheap paneling. They went to join him.

 

There was a body sprawled on the floor right on the other side of the partition. He had been nearly torn apart, but there wasn't a single drop of blood anywhere; the flesh had turned the color of ashes after two days in the fireplace. The worst part was the ghost that cowered over the body, moaning. They didn't need Gwen's help this time; this poor thing was caught between the physical and the spiritual realms, and his pain was a rasp on their nerves.

 

Gwen walked past them to kneel at the ghost's side. "Max? Who did this to you?"

 

The thing looked at her. "Suzie."

 

The single word sent shockwaves through all of them. Gwen swallowed hard before continuing. "Suzie Costello?"

 

"She said I would live forever. She said I wouldn't have to go to Hell. She promised!" It howled. "Suzie, you promised!"

 

Gwen stood up. "He's not listening. He won't listen. This is his place now, until he can let go." She walked out before looking back.

 

"She's going to be exhausted," Kathy said. "Dealing with three violent deaths is bad enough, but having to abandon a lost soul?"

 

"There was nothing she could have done!" Owen said angrily.

 

"I know, Owen. But mediums believe in helping the dead find peace. In her head, Gwen knows there's nothing she could have done. In her heart… Well, she managed to walk away on her own. She has guts, I give her that."

 

"That she does." Jack said. "Kathy, I'll need you tomorrow at the Hub. Andy too, if I can find him."

 

"What are you going to do?"

 

"I had Suzie buried in a piece of property her family owned near Porthcawl. We're going up there tomorrow. A wraith has to answer if her bones are used to call her."

 

"Jack!"

 

"Four suicides and four murders," Jack said harshly. "Not to mention the people she killed while using the glove. Suzie Costello is going to answer to me, Kathy. Once and for all."


	2. Chapter 2

The shrill sound of the comm alarm jolted Jack out of sleep. He stumbled upstairs and found Ianto already dressed and at work. He glanced at the old-fashioned station clock on the wall. It was a few minutes before five.

 

"You shouldn't be here."

 

Ianto shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. I can't these days, unless…"

 

He looked away. Jack didn't need him to complete the sentence to know exactly what Ianto had been about to say: _unless I'm near you_. He felt the same way.

 

Ianto opened the comm line. "Yes, Andy."

 

"Ianto, I need to talk to Jack, right now."

 

Jack felt a jolt of premonition. "I'm here, Andy."

 

"I'm at Gwen's. Neighbours called the police a couple of hours ago. When the constables got here they found Rhys on the floor covered in blood. Thank God one of them recognized the names and called me." Andy hesitated. "Jack, we can't find Gwen."

 

Jack felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. He should have expected it; Suzie was not someone to let moss grow. "Did they leave a message behind?"

 

"Not they. The message says _if you don't find her, she's mine_. Jack, what's going on?"

 

"I'll tell you when you get here." He closed the call. "Ianto…"

 

"I'll contact Toshiko and Owen, sir. Owen to hospital to see Rhys?"

 

"Yes. Call Kathy too. And make some coffee." He looked down at himself. "I'll go get dressed."

 

"Good idea, sir. Hard to appear commanding in pyjama bottoms."

 

"Cheeky." Jack cupped Ianto's jaw and stroked his thumb over the young man's lips. "Gorgeous, too. Ow!"

 

He removed his hand hastily and examined the impression of Ianto's teeth on the pad of his thumb. "And violent!"

 

"Never call a man gorgeous. Sir."

 

"I'll keep that in mind."

 

He showered and dressed and was back upstairs by the time Toshiko, Andy, and Kathy arrived. Ianto handed him his mug.

 

"Owen called from hospital. They've managed to stabilize Rhys, but they're going to keep him in an artificial coma to give his body and mind a chance to heal. Owen says it's still touch and go."

 

"Kathy picked me up on her way in," Andy said. "She told me about Suzie. I called Portcawl. Turns out they had been trying to reach me for a week. Suzie's grave was opened and the body taken. Someone in the department seems to have forgotten to pass on the message. After this is over," he said in a very bland voice, "I'm going to take steps."

 

"So we can't use her remains for a summons," Toshiko said.

 

"No," Kathy confirmed. "And yesterday after I left here I contacted all the Bishop's Sensitives in Wales, Laighin, and Muman. Everyone reports feelings of dread, but no sense of cause or direction."

 

"So we have nothing," Toshiko said.

 

"We have something," Jack answered her. "Or rather, someone."

 

"Bollocks to that!" Andy spat out. "You can't be thinking…"

 

"Andy." Jack's soft voice stopped Andy in his tracks. "If anyone knows where Gwen is, he does."

 

"Jack?" Kathy asked.

 

Jack smiled. "Kathy, have you ever wondered why the Hub was built in this exact location?"

 

"I've wondered." She answered, clearly puzzled by the question. "It would have been so much easier to stay anonymous in one of the big mansions or an industrial park."

 

"I'm going to show you the reason why. Owen knows because I needed help when I went to get Caledfwlch. Andy has suspected for a while, haven't you, Andy? Come with me."

 

He led them down the corridor that led to Archives. As with all the corridors in the Hub, it was lined with subway tiles, with square tiles bearing the Torchwood logo inset at regular intervals. About half-way to the Archives door, he stopped and turned to face one of the square tiles. If you looked carefully, you noticed that the logo on this one was not stamped, but carved. Jack put his hand on it. There was a soft hum, and the wall slid aside to show a staircase leading downwards.

 

"Be careful where you step. It's a little damp down here."

 

They followed him down the stairs. There were sconces lining the wall. They turned on as they passed, giving them a view of the steps. There was a cool sweet breeze blowing from somewhere; it ruffled their hair and revived their spirits. They could hear water moving below.

 

"Stairs end here. I'm going to take four steps. Stay behind me."

 

As Jack moved, lights came on overhead. They illuminated a natural cavern, its walls streaked with quartz that shimmered, sending reflections everywhere until the lighting resembled a slightly cloudy day in the open air. A short slope down from where they stood, water lapped at the sand of a beach. A large coracle, its upper part decorated with dragons, sat right at the water line. Beyond that, they could see an island, its slopes lined with laden apple trees, and crowned with a long, high mound.

 

"Is that what I think it is?" Kathy choked out.

 

"Ynys Afalau, the Isle of Apples, where the High King sleeps. That's why the Hub sits where it does, Kathy. We are its first and last line of defence." Jack extended his hand, waving it, and they could see the rippling of spirit wards. "It's also one of three natural entrances to the Other World in all of Wales."

 

He turned to face them. "If ever the Hub is breached, this entrance goes into automatic lockdown. If the Rift is opened, mainframe is programmed to override all authorizations and lock it permanently until myself or… one other… can open it again." He looked at all of them in turn. "There's one more thing. All of you are now keyed to the door. I'll try to return as fast as I can, but if I don't, this will be your responsibility."

 

He started down towards the beach, but was pushed back by a high wind that came out of nowhere. He tried again, and it happened again.

 

"Jack," Andy said, "you're trying to ignore it. Don't. It won't let you. And don't look at me like that. You know how it works."

 

Jack turned to Ianto. "You're going to have to come with me."

 

"I know," the young man said. "I was just waiting for you to stop arguing with the inevitable. I am geis-bound to you, and you are going into battle. You can't leave me behind."

 

Jack started down to the beach for a third time, Ianto close behind. The spirit wards parted and let them through. Moving as if they had been practising, they pushed the coracle out into the surf and clambered in.

 

"The easiest way is to let the current take us past the island, then paddle for the shore. There should be a road. I don't exactly know whether it's a long or a short one these days, but it'll get us where we're going."

 

Ianto nodded. The current was fast, too fast for a natural current under those conditions, and the coracle moved quickly. They passed very close to the island, and then the current swerved around its far end, under a small overhang. As they were swept under it a single apple dropped on Ianto's lap.

 

"Eat it." Jack ordered. "Core and all."

 

Ianto nodded. "Yes, sir. I know my legends."

 

He munched as Jack paddled. The lake narrowed to a ribbon of water moving rapidly between two high cliffs, then widened again. Ianto could smell salt air now. Jack aimed the coracle towards the farthest shore, where a crack between the cliffs formed a natural beach. Ianto finished eating – even licking his fingers to get the juice – then grabbed the other paddle and went to work.

 

It was much easier than he was expecting, and, from the look on Jack's face, he was also a bit confused. They beached the coracle and walked up the beach and through the crack on the cliff. On the other side, Ianto could see a dirt track that led to a small traditional slate cottage in the distance.

 

"If this is a quest, sir, I would say that it's been too easy by half."

 

Jack laughed. "Come on, Ianto. I guess he wants to see us."

 

Ianto did not bother to ask who. They set off along the track, and in ten minutes they were standing outside the cottage's garden gate. A tall, lanky man with brown hair and a goofy grin was waiting by the front door.

 

"Hello, Captain. It's been a long time."

 

"Hello, Doctor. Indeed it has."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note** : Laighin and Muman were Irish kingdoms Laighin is roughly Leinster and Muman had its capital at Cashel. In this Ireland, there was no English invasion, so the areas retained their historical names. Ireland is a confederation of kingdoms in the Celtic style. Of course, as in the modern style, most of the kings have only constitutional powers.  
>  **Author's Note** : A long time ago I read an obscure legend that said that if a friendly supernatural being offered you an apple, you should eat it core and all. In this case, the Island itself gives Ianto an apple, so Jack reminds him. I'm looking for a cite, but... You can consider that I made it up!


	3. Chapter 3

Ianto stood just inside the front door of the Doctor's cottage, keeping a straight face by sheer force of will. He was damned if he was going to give this stranger any advantages, although he had to admit the man had been as welcoming towards him as he had been towards Jack.

 

"Come on, Ianto, you're disappointing the Doctor," Jack teased. "You're not reading your lines properly."

 

"My lines? Oh." He put on an overdone air of astonishment. "Good God, it's bigger on the inside!"

 

The Doctor laughed. "This one is a match for you, Jack. Come and sit. I'll make us some tea."

 

"Ah… have you taken cookery classes since the last time we met?"

 

"Jack, you wound me." The Doctor ushered them into a large, rather ramshackle kitchen. "Come, sit."

 

Ianto selected a chair that allowed him to study the room beyond. It was huge, about four times as large as the cottage looked from the outside. At one end there was a fireplace that could probably roast a whole sheep with space left over for baking bread. A few ratty sofas had been pulled around it for conversation. Above the fireplace a painting showed the battle between Gwrtheyrn's dragons. At the other end an area resembled a mad scientist's lab. Several doors led into the interior of the cottage, promising even more hidden spaces.

 

"This isn't a social visit, Doctor," Jack said as he slid into the chair next to Ianto. "One of my people has been captured by a wraith."

 

"Tell me."

 

While Jack spoke, Ianto watched the Doctor. He seemed to be a youngish man but there was great age and sorrow in his eyes. Those eyes saw everything, even some things you wished they didn't. Now they were focused on Jack, and Ianto had the uneasy feeling that they saw right through to Jack's soul.

 

"Where is the glove now?" was the first thing the Doctor said once Jack had finished.

 

"In our secure archives," Jack answered.

 

"Good. Keep it there until the next one surfaces. They can't be destroyed unless they are together."

 

"You mean there's another one of those things around?" Jack said.

 

"That's the thing about gloves, Jack." The Doctor said with a grim smile. "They come in pairs. But if we're lucky the other one is deep in a marsh somewhere."

 

"You recognize them."

 

"Oh, yes. My great-uncle had them made. My uncle kept them here until his death. His killer took them." The staccato sentences made his listeners shiver. "She didn't have them on her when I caught up with her."

 

"I'll keep that in mind." Jack said. "But can you help me now, Doc?"

 

"I think I can… Drat. I forgot the tea…"

 

"Never mind the tea. Gwen could be dead by now."

 

"Oh, no. Miss Costello wants to see you suffer, Jack. She won't kill your little soldier until you're there to see her die."

 

He led them to the laboratory area. Opening a gigantic armoire, he nearly shoved his whole body into it as he rummaged around. He emerged holding a box. He put it on the table and pulled off the cover.

 

"Here." He handed Jack a metal wand resembling a small flute. "You'll need this to disrupt the field."

 

"What field?"

 

"If Miss Costello was using the glove to kill as well as in the more orthodox manner, there's going to be a magical field of some sort connecting them. It's probably what's making her so much more powerful than an average wraith. If you disrupt the field the shock caused by the loss of power may make her vulnerable for a few minutes. That's your window of opportunity. Do you remember how to use it?"

 

"Yes." Jack took it. "Thank you, Doctor."

 

"Mind you, you'll have to bring it back." The Doctor grinned cheekily. "And I'll even make you tea."

 

"Doctor…"

 

The Doctor put his hand on Jack's shoulder, deeply serious. "I was wrong, Jack. I was furious at you for choosing something I thought was beneath you, and I said the worst thing I could think of." He was suddenly his cheerful self again. "You know me, I'm overprotective."

 

Jack's eyes were glistening. "Yes. You are."

 

"And now for you, Mr. Jones."

 

"Me?" Ianto was infuriated to hear his voice squeak. "What about me?"

 

"Ynys Afalau gave you a gift, so I think I should give you one also." He reached into the box again and pulled out a medallion on a thick gold chain. "Bend your head."

 

Ianto found himself unable to disobey. The large chain fell on to his shoulders. He looked up at Jack to find him staring at him in utter shock, which was transformed into a wide grin. Puzzled, he picked up the medallion and looked at it. It showed a red dragon couchant under an oak tree, its head turned to face the viewer. One of its paws rested on a sword. Next to it was an overturned goblet. It took him a while to work out the symbols, but when he did, he looked at the Doctor in shock.

 

"I can't take this." He tried to remove it, but found he couldn't. "Please…"

 

"The island chose you and the medallion confirms it," The Doctor said. "Details can be worked out later. That's where the devil is, you know. Always in the details. Now, you should be on your way. Jack, you can use the Falcon's Road if you need to. I cleared it last winter. No, don't say goodbye. You know how I feel about that."

 

Ianto hesitated for a moment. "Doctor, what was your great-uncle's name?"

 

The Doctor grinned. "Emrys Wledig."

 

Ianto bowed his head briefly then turned to follow Jack. They walked back towards the shore, which Ianto was startled to realize they now could see from the garden gate. The coracle was where they had left it. They paddled it back towards the island, using a slightly different route to avoid the current. As they reached the overhang, Ianto heard Jack swear.

 

"Pull up," he said. "we can't go back this way."

 

"Why?" Ianto asked.

 

"Can you see the light?" Ianto followed Jack's pointing finger. A flickering greenish-yellow light burned on the beach in the cavern under the Hub. "Andy and I worked out a series of signals a long time ago. That means stay away."

 

"Now what?"

 

"The Falcon's Road, God help us." He turned the coracle to face back towards the river. "Come on, paddle. We need to catch the current."

 

It took them only a few seconds. As the coracle picked up speed, they stopped paddling and let the current do the work. Ianto noticed that there was no widening of the river; he looked for the crack on the cliff that led to the Doctor's cottage but he couldn't find it. Then his attention was caught by the rumbling noise growing in the distance. The sound grew louder and louder and finally Ianto could see what was making it. The river ended in a massive waterfall, so large that the falling water rose upwards again in massive clouds of mist.

 

"Hang on!" Jack shouted.

 

The coracle shot off the edge, but, to Ianto's amazement, did not drop. They found themselves traveling through the mist clouds. As they came out on the other side, it was suddenly night. Ianto looked down and saw there was no river below; he could see land, and it was land he recognized, even in the dark. He looked at Jack and found him grinning wildly, looking for all the world like a kid on a rollercoaster.

 

Suddenly the coracle dropped straight down. Ianto yelped as he felt his arse leave the seat. He hung on to the edge. The coracle splashed into one of the darker corners of Roath Basin, and Ianto came crashing down onto the seat.

 

"Are you all right, Ianto?"

 

"Sore behind. Slight loss of dignity." Ianto considered the situation briefly. "I'm fine. Now what?"

 

"Now we go to the Hub."

 

He pulled the small flute out of his coat pocket. He gave it a couple of twists, and the thing started to emit a bright blue light. Jack moved it in a complicated pattern while reciting something under his breath in a language Ianto did not recognize. As the pattern repeated again and again, an opening appeared in mid-air, and Ianto found himself looking into the Archives.

 

"Let's go. I think it's time to meet up with Suzie."


	4. Chapter 4

They crept along the corridors, keeping to the older parts of the Hub. Ianto remembered Suzie telling him that she hated them because they made her feel like she was stuck in a bad horror movie. She had never bothered to learn to get around them. In typical Suzie fashion, she had been arrogantly sure she would never need an escape route.

 

Ianto had made it his business to memorize all the routes in and out of the Hub, walking them both virtually and physically several times. The one they were in at the moment led to one of the cold storage units in the Medical bay. If the Hub had been put in lockdown, that area would be protected by Healers' wards, which were notoriously hard on the undead and the nonliving. Wraiths would not be able to pass them.

 

The access to the drawer looked like a duplicate of the door on the other side, but it was rigged to trap intruders. Jack pressed his palm to what looked like a blank spot below the handle and then backed away as the door swung silently downwards and lay flat. Ianto lay down on it and rolled in, pressing his palm to the exact spot of the door on the other side, making the inner door swing open.

 

He rolled out and landed on his feet just in time to grab Toshiko as she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her off her feet and moved aside, giving Jack and chance to get in and be subjected to the same treatment. After a few seconds, she stood back and pointed to a flat black box on one of the tables.

 

"Sound dampener. They can't hear us." She whispered. "Gwen is alive, but in bad shape. Suzie is draining her somehow. I don't think we have much time."

 

"What happened?" Jack asked.

 

"She showed up at the tourist office with several children. Children, Jack. She nearly killed one when we wouldn't let her in. She was hurting Gwen too. So we let her and the two wraiths holding Gwen in and locked down the Hub as soon as they were in the corridor. The others were left outside. She threatened to kill Gwen, but Andy reminded her he was a lay chaplain and Kathy was an extraordinary minister of last rites, and asked her if she really wanted to be in a narrow corridor fitted with sprinklers and no hostage." Toshiko shuddered. "She wails, Jack, she makes this sound…"

 

Jack hugged her again. "I know."

 

"They had sent me in here before the lockdown. Andy said if you could get in you would probably use this route, and if not, I could get out and find you. I called Owen. He's out in the Plas somewhere, watching from that end. Kathy's assistant is with him."

 

"All right. Tosh, go and join Owen. Shortest route is…"

 

"I know it, Jack. I'm as paranoid as Ianto in some ways." She gave them a shaky smile. "Not as thorough, but I can be in the Plas in five minutes."

 

"Good. When you hear the comm alarm, the three of you take out whoever or whatever is still in the tourist office. Tell Aaron the Kaddish achar Hakk'vura works to keep them down."

 

They waited until she was on her feet in the corridor before closing the door.

 

"Go full dark," Jack said to Ianto. "When I remove the wards, move fast." Ianto nodded. "Go!"

 

Ianto ran up the stairs and around the perimeter until he could see the whole of the main floor. Suzie was sitting at what used to be her desk, flanked by her two wraiths. Gwen was sitting on the floor at her feet; she seemed weak and listless and Ianto was sure she would have slumped into a heap if Suzie's grip on her hair were not holding her up. Andy and Kathy stood near the fountain. Andy had his stole of office over his shoulders.

 

Ianto moved carefully until he reached the entrance to the corridor leading to the weapons rooms, in a direct line of sight to Suzie, then stood still and waited for his signal.

 

"Hello Suzie." Jack walked out of the Medical bay. "I think you're waiting for me."

 

Her wail jolted Ianto. His mam-gu had told him stories of what happened when the living got trapped between the two Worlds. The sound coming from Suzie's throat was exactly how he had imagined them to sound as they cried for release.

 

"I'm waiting for you to watch as I drain her. Gwen bloody Cooper." The dead woman spat out the words venomously. "I hope she was fun in the sack, Jack. You're going to have to live on the memories until you find her replacement. Hear that, Gwen?" She yanked on Gwen's hair viciously. "I hope you're not full of illusions, girl. He always finds a replacement."

 

"Is that what this is all about? You're angry at Gwen because you think she's my lover?"

 

"Why bring her in otherwise? You didn't need her! I was a good medium, the best, and you could have had me in your bed any time you wanted, but she batted her eyes at you and that was all it took, didn't it? Gave her my job!"

 

"Dear God, you're an idiot." Andy sounded amused. "I've spent a day fearing a blind idiot. Oh don't glare at me, Suzie Costello. Jack wouldn't have given you or Gwen the time of day anyway. Not while Ianto was around." He smirked at her. "Jack has a thing for beautiful young men, Suzie. And you never noticed."

 

She jumped to her feet, howling. Power shimmered around her as she let go of Gwen's hair and raised her arms. The wraiths fell back, moaning and covering their heads in terror. Almost at the same time, Jack's hand came up, wand pointed at her. A stream of blue light shot out from the tip, hitting the shimmering field around her. Flashes of light resembling blue lightning bolts appeared all over its surface. Suzie howled again as the uncontrolled discharges burned into her.

 

Ianto was running even before the comm alarm sounded. He didn't bother to stay concealed; the amount of power swirling around Suzie would cancel any glamour he could cast. He heard her scream his name, but didn't even look in her direction as he scooped Gwen up by her armpits and dragged her out of Suzie's reach. He pushed her under the stairs leading to the greenhouse and turned to face the main floor again, standing guard.

 

The loss of her hostage seemed to drive Suzie even deeper into insanity. She paid no attention as Kathy and Andy disposed of her two wraiths. Her whole attention was on Jack. Power flared between them as they dueled.

 

Suzie was clearly weakened by whatever Jack had done to disrupt her connection to the glove, but Ianto remembered what the Doctor had said about a window of opportunity. Sooner or later Suzie would reconnect with the glove, and she could bring her power back under control. The one chance they had was to push her mentally off balance so she couldn't take advantage of it.

 

"Poor Suzie," he singsonged loud enough to be heard over the energy hum. "Nobody loves her, nobody cares."

 

Her scream of rage nearly deafened them all. She turned towards him, but Jack used the wand's light to block her. She tried to move through it, snarling. Ianto was shocked by the pure hate that flowed from her as she looked at him. But now he knew where her sore spot was, and he ground his words into it ruthlessly.

 

"He's the perfect lover, Suzie. Should I tell you how he touches me? How me makes me beg for more?" He noticed Jack doing something to the wand. "Look at me, Suzie. Shall I tell you how he likes to be touched? I touch him, Suzie. Every night."

 

Her right hand came up and a bolt of energy shot out at him. He dove out of the way, but couldn't avoid part of the charge. He was thrown to the ground. His breath was knocked out of his lungs as he crashed into the metal rim of the fountain. He belt a burning in his chest and looked down to see his shirt smouldering red. He rolled into the cool water below, mentally thanking Owen for his insistence on keeping it clean and well decontaminated. He heard Suzie wail one last time and then blessed silence fell. A few seconds later, a hand reached in, grabbed the back of his jacket, and pulled him up to a sitting position.

 

"The next time you play target," Jack said, "move faster…"

 

He stopped suddenly, staring at Ianto's chest. Ianto looked down at himself and he felt his knees go weak. The Doctor's medallion was gone. In its place, exactly in the middle of his breastbone, was a tattoo that matched it exactly.

 

"Jack…"

 

"Look inside you. Inside us."

 

"I don't need to," he said. "The compulsion is gone. Jack, what happened?"

 

"I don't know. I don't think this has ever happened before."

 

"I'll go see Mother Katherine as soon as we're through here." He took a step closer. "Jack…"

 

They were jolted apart by the cog door opening. Owen, Tosh, and Aaron ben Joseph entered. The doctor made a dash towards the greenhouse stairs, where Andy was holding Gwen in his lap. She seemed to be coming out of her trance.

 

"Rhys?" Her weak voice was frantic with worry. "Where is Rhys?"

 

Owen knelt next to her. "He's in hospital, but he's on the mend. You'll be on the bed next to his as soon as we can get you there and you can see for yourself. All right?"

 

She nodded. Owen and Andy pulled her up to her feet between them. As they passed Jack, she stopped, put her arms around his waist, and hung on for a moment.

 

"Thank you. I kept thinking… I knew you would save us both. Rhys… I have to go to Rhys."

 

Jack kissed her forehead, then nodded to the other two. Andy put his arm around Gwen's waist and let her lean into him. "Let's go find that man of yours."

 

They walked out with Owen right behind them. Jack turned to the others. "Kathy, Aaron, thanks for everything. Tosh, get the hell out of here. Get some rest. I'll clean up."

 

"Are you out of your mind?" Tosh said. "There's no way I'm leaving you here with this mess. You'll probably sweep stuff into the corners or something. Besides, Ianto has to go see Mother Katherine." She laughed at their startled look. "One of the perks of being in contact with animal spirits, remember? Improved senses?"

 

"We'll stay too," Kathy said. "I know Aaron has been dying to see this place."

 

Jack turned to Ianto, who grinned and saluted. "On my way. Before I forget, you left your stopwatch on the shooting range last time we had a training session."

 

Jack gave him a puzzled look. "And?"

 

"You told me once there were lots of things you could do with a stopwatch." He watched Jack's face light up as he caught on. "Yeah. Think about that for a while. I'll be back soon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note** : The Kaddish achar Hakk'vura is the "mourner's Kaddish" which Jews recite daily for eleven months after the death of a relative.


	5. Coda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DEFINITELY not safe for work or for people squicked by explicit sexuality.

When Ianto returned to the Hub he found it powered down to what Toshiko called _mainframe nap time_. Automatic programs were running and there was enough light to let someone walk around without tripping and breaking their neck, but that was all.

 

He looked up to Jack's office. The lights were on. He took the steps two at a time, suddenly impatient to be with his lover. That was the right word now – or it would be by sunrise if he had his way. He was going to drag Jack Harkness down into that tiny closet Jack called a bedroom and he was going to do everything he had been fantasizing about for six months. Before Elaine de Cussac had nearly destroyed their world he had been willing to take it slow; now all he wanted was to take everything Jack had promised, tonight, before it could be taken away again.

 

As he reached the top of the stairs the office door opened and Jack stepped out in full military kit.

 

"Oh." Ianto couldn't disguise his disappointment. "You're going out."

 

Jack smiled. "I was going to the monastery to find you."

 

Ianto pressed close, crowding Jack and forcing him to step back into the office. He shut the door behind him as he stepped over the threshold.

 

"Coat, please, sir," he said in his blandest voice. "We wouldn't want it to get dirty."

 

Jack gave him his most lascivious grin. "Are we planning to get dirty, Mr. Jones?"

 

"Positively filthy, sir." He held out his hand. "Coat?"

 

Jack shrugged out of it and handed it over, together with his hat. Ianto hung them carefully on the coat stand behind the door. Suddenly his stomach was full of butterflies. He had only one lover in his past, if Lisa could be considered that, and there was nothing to compare Jack to; but Jack was so much older and more experienced and there were plenty of young men and women in his past. What happened if Jack didn't… if he wasn't…

 

Heavy hands fell on his shoulders. "Cold feet?"

 

"No… not really. It's just that… No."

 

The hands – Jack's beautiful, huge hands that seemed to encompass all of Ianto's world – stroked gently down to his wrists. He felt Jack's breath against his cheek as Jack whispered in his ear.

 

"You are everything I want. All I need." He punctuated the words with small sucks on Ianto's earlobe. "I want to show you so many things, teach you so many things…"

 

Ianto moaned. "Now. I don't want to wait anymore. Now, Jack, please."

 

He was turned around and his mouth plundered. Slowly. Gently. Thoroughly. For a second he wondered if there was just a touch of sex magic in Jack's kiss, and then dismissed the thought as irrelevant. He wrapped his arms around Jack's waist and hung on as Jack explored his mouth, jaw, and throat. There was so much freedom in giving himself over without reserve and just letting things happen, in letting Jack push off the coat and undo the tie and open the shirt until he was exposed to Jack's eyes, and his hands, and his lips.

 

"Downstairs." Jack voice was hoarse. "Your first time shouldn't be over my desk."

 

The graphic images Jack's words planted in his mind made Ianto moan. "Yes."

 

They scrambled down the ladder. Something about the intimate darkness of the tiny room, lit only by a single lamp on the bedside table, made Ianto bold. Here, in this place, he could be himself. He wanted to be the one who plundered; he wanted to leave his mark in his lover's skin, in his thoughts. Mine, he thought fiercely. Here he's mine.

 

Jack had barely reached the ground when Ianto pounced. "You're wearing too many clothes."

 

He pushed off Jack's braces and removed the shirt and vest. He sighed with pleasure as his fingers stroked over Jack's shoulders, then around to knead the hard muscles in his back. Jack purred when Ianto rubbed his lips over the silky skin of Jack's chest, finding Jack's nipples with his tongue. Jack had taught him that men could be as sensitive as women in that area and he used everything he had learned to drive Jack wild.

 

It wasn't very long before he found himself flat on his back on the bed looking into blue eyes filled with lust. His hands were pinned above his head and a hard leg was thrown over his.

 

"We're going to slow thing down," Jack forced the words out through gritted teeth. "Or we are going to do real damage."

 

"Don't want to slow down." He struggled to free his hands. "Want you. Now."

 

"Do you really want to have to listen to Owen lecture you on safe sex?" Jack grinned at the horrified look on Ianto's face. "That's better." He licked at the corners of Ianto's mouth, then sucked on his lower lip. "You are gorgeous. Hush. You are gorgeous and you are mine."

 

He ran his tongue down Ianto's chest just to the edge of the trousers. "I think it's time we got rid of these, don't you?"

 

He let go of Ianto's wrists and sat up, intending to strip himself quickly and then make a longer production of undressing Ianto. Instead he found himself under assault as Ianto dove for his belt.

 

"Let me. Please."

 

Jack leaned back and let Ianto deal with what remained of his clothes. He had promised himself that Ianto's first time would be as gentle and unhurried as it took for Ianto to get used to the idea of intimacy. He was sure Ianto's physical relationship with Lisa had not progressed beyond a little kissing and petting, and the double trauma of losing her and being awakened to his powers by the physical and mental abuse he'd endured at the hands of the rogue vampires had destroyed any chance of normal sexual development. Finding him an eager participant was more than Jack had ever expected, and he wasn't about to inhibit him in any way.

 

Ianto tossed Jack's trousers and pants onto a chair, then pulled off his shoes and socks. He had managed to get through the whole thing without really looking at Jack's body, especially not at… well, there. He gave himself a mental shake. He wanted Jack; Duw, he was so hard it hurt. But faced with the proof of Jack's physicality, when the fantasy was about to become the reality, he found himself panicking.

 

He felt Jack's fingers ghost gently over his hair and caress his cheekbones, and he knew Jack deserved to know the truth before they went any further.

 

"They didn't rape me. Elaine told me she didn't believe in polluting her meals." He forced the words out. "But I raped them. Mentally. Because I needed to get away from… what they were doing. I felt rage and fear and I lashed out. I'm afraid that if I let go I will… the something in me that could do that would hurt you."

 

Jack pulled Ianto down on top of him, wrapping his arms around the shivering body tightly. "Ianto, you were a boy. You had seen your girl die at the hands of vampires. They were using you as a human larder. You were in agony for weeks. I'm amazed you're still sane." He caressed Ianto's back, pressed kisses to his forehead and cheeks and jaw. "What you did to those bastards was necessary for your survival. You would never do something like that out of passion." He rolled over until Ianto was beneath him. "Let me show you. Let me prove it to you."

 

Ianto blinked back tears. "Yes. Please."

 

Jack dispatched Ianto's trousers, pants, shoes, and socks just as fast as he possibly could, then positioned him back onto the pillows. He lowered himself down, deliberately letting Ianto feel their erections rubbing together as he aligned their bodies. He put one of his hands under Ianto's buttocks, pulling him tight.

 

"First lesson." He said, punctuating the words with licks and nips to Ianto's shoulders and neck. "The technical term for this is frot, from the French frottage…" He chuckled at Ianto's expressive eye-roll. "I guess you've heard of it."

 

He reached into the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out a small tube of lube. Pouring some into his hand, he massaged it gently over Ianto's cock, enjoying the moans of pleasure that erupted as his fingers traced the thick length of it. Then it was his turn to moan as Ianto's slicked hand found him and he was traced and stroked.

 

"Hold us both. Yes, like that," he gasped. "Now move. Slowly. Let's see long we can last."

 

He took Ianto's mouth in a deep kiss and shivered in delight when he felt Ianto suck at his tongue. It went on and on as their sensitized bodies strained against each other, and every contact became an agonizing pleasure. Their mouths separated only long enough to let them get enough oxygen into their lungs to survive then clamped together again. And it went on and on until they couldn't breathe even with their mouths wide open and their heads thrown back, and Jack felt Ianto's hand squeeze once, twice, and Ianto's voice, hoarse in his ear.

 

"Jack… I'm going to come. I have to…"

 

The words threw Jack over the precipice and his back arched as his orgasm boiled up, and he felt Ianto thrust hard several times and scream, and then collapse against him, panting, his face buried against Jack's throat.

 

They rested like that for a few minutes, catching their breath and letting their heart rate return to some sort of normal. Finally, Ianto raised his head.

 

"We did get positively filthy," he said in a voice full of surprised wonder. "Didn't we?"

 

Jack laughed. He found the towel he had placed on the lower shelf of the bedside table and cleaned them both as best he could. "You know where the shower is if you want to…"

 

"No." Ianto shifted and squirmed until he found a comfortable place, with his head on Jack's chest and one leg thrown over both of Jack's. "Sleep now. Then lesson number two, yes?"

 

"Oh, yeah."


End file.
